Tape-reel.



No. 702,439. Patented lune I7, |902.

` vW. KEUFFEL.

TAPE REEL.

(Application filed Jan. 8, 1901.)

(No Model.)

wnNEssEs: y yNEN-Tori M Ewa/VWK M ATTORNEY ,7 .A AIAX. /f

NITED STATES PATENT EEICE.

WILHELM KEUEEEL, OE IIOEOKEN, NEW JERSEY, AssIGNoR To THE IIEIIEEEL aEssER COMPANY, A CORPORATION OE NEW JERSEY.

TAPE-REEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 702,439, dated .T une17, 1902.

Application filed January 8, 1901. Serial No. 42,493. (No model.)

T0 LZZ whom r3 may concern:

Be it known that I, WILHELM KEUEFEL, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of Hoboken, in the county of Hudson and State ofNew Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Tape-Reels, ofwhich the following isa specification.

My invention relates to cased tape-reels; and its novelty consists inthe construction and adaptation of the parts, as will be more fullyhereinafter pointed out.

In the tape-reels knownto me, which are provided with a leather caseadapted to inclose and shelter the .tape when reeled upon the drum andin which the crank-handle is folded into the drum, leaving asubstantially flush or flat outer surface on each side of the case whenthe instrument is not in use, there are certain defects which it is thepurpose of my invention to overcome. Nearly all of the tape-reels ofthis class have either too short` a crank to provide a good leverage inunwinding the tape or too short a handle upon the crank to afford a firmhold for the fingers, especially if the user is wearing gloves or hisfingers are stiff or chilled. In one form of such tape-reels the crankis provided with a knuckle-jointed handle which folds into a centralaperture in the tape drum. This gives a handle of sufficient size tograsp; but the crank is too short to secure proper lever-` age. Anattempt was made to overcome this diiioulty byhaving the crank made intotwo pieces which unfolded. This gave the Adesired length of crank;butthe handle wastoo short. These difficulties, united with therequirement that the handle when not in use must lie flush within thecase and must be capable of being Opened readily and quickly with agloved hand, have really made a difficult problem to be Overcome.

I have overcome the diihculties referred to by retaining the flatfolding crank with a knuckle-joininghandle; butI pass the handle throughan aperture in the tape-drum near to its edge, thereby Obtaining alength of crank nearly equal to the diameter of. the tape-drum and alength of handle equal to or greater than the thickness of the case ofthe reel. As the outermost knob of the handle maybe reached from thatside of the case opposite to the one at which it is hinged, the crank ismade readily usable even by a person with a gloved hand or stifffingers.

In the drawings, Figure l is a top plan view of my improved tape-reel,showing the handle thrown back. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section ofthe same with the handle shown in dotted outline partly thrown back.

In the drawings, 1 is the case, made of any suitable material, as thinmetal, and covered externally with leather. An opening is provided inits outer edge to provide for unwinding the tape 2. The plates 3 and 4of the case have each an inner central aperture, and upon theirperipheries is mounted the tape-drum in the usual manner upon bearings5, crimped upon the platesand 4. This drum consists of threeplates-wiz., two side plates 6 and and a cylindrical plate 8, upon whichthe tape is wound. The plates 6 and 7 are united together by an axialpost 9, and a transverse rod is the means whereby the inner end of thetape is attached to the drum.

The plate 6 carries the crank of the instrument. This crank consists ofa plate 10, hinged upon a pintle 1l and provided upon its inner surfacewith a knucke-jointed handle 12. The plate 6 is provided with anaperture 13 `and the plate 7 with a similar aperture 14C, lwhereby thehandle12 is permitted to pass through the drum, the end of the handleprotruding slightly beyond the outer surface of the plate 7, so that thehandle can easily be pushed inward. The apertures 13 and 14. are eachnear the edge of the plates,

so that plate 10, which forms the crank of the handle, is nearly equalin length to the total diameter of the drum. This gives a long crank, sothat a good leverage is obtained, and permits the use of a handle ofsuficient size to be used with a gloved or stiff hand.

What I claim a new is In a tapereel, thecombination with a tapecase, anda tape drum having1 registering openings through its opposite platesnear one edge thereof, of a crank of a length equal to the width of thedrum 'hinged externally to one drum-plate at the edge thereofdiainetrically opposite to the openings in the plate, and

IOO

A outer end of the crank, when extended, and

Vitness my hand, this 29th day of Decema knuckle-jointed handleprojecting from the bei', 1900, in lche presence of two subscribingpassing through the openings in both of the Witnesses. sape-drum plates,and projecting its end. l WILHELM KEUFFEL. slightly beyond the oppositeplate when r YVitnesses:

HERMAN MEYER, MABEL K. WHITMAN.

closed, substantially as, and folI the purpose set forth.

